You tell your child it’s time for bed. Instead of the pitter patter of feet running up the stairs, you get “Whyyyyyyy?”  All parents have heard it.  The funny thing is, you know your child isn’t really looking for an answer.  “Well, dear, your body needs sleep... Read more...

Olympic fever is starting to rise, and here is the good news:  There are enough benefits to watching the Olympics as a family that you can throw your standard TV rules out the window.  Beyond sheer entertainment, there’s much to be learned by watching the games on... Read more...

Seems like almost every parent today knows that spanking is verboten. Everyone except that parent who says, “My father spanked me, and I turned out fine.” To him I want to say, You don’t remember how you felt while you were being spanked—the terror, the helplessness, the... Read more...

For years I have extolled the value of empty cardboard boxes—the ones in which your big appliances arrive—in the lives of children. You see cardboard box to be recycled; your child sees secret cave, fire station, beauty parlor, club house. But Caine Monroy has broadened even my... Read more...

There’s nothing like a toddler’s tantrum or an older child’s melt down to bring a parent to her knees.  It’s one of those behaviors that makes you feel inadequate and helpless, to say nothing of incompetent. Put that tantrum in a public place—a restaurant, the grocery store, the... Read more...

I might hold the record for having given the most single birthday parties. Each of my kids (triplets) had his/her own party from age two years old on up. It’s not that I am a glutton for punishment; it’s that there’s not much that is all yours... Read more...

(Posted for the second time...that;s how important this one is!) “You will not believe this story,” began the email from a client who had just returned from family services for the Jewish New Year.  She described the mother and three children sitting next to her own family. “She... Read more...

How amazing is it that all kids seem to whine at some time or other? Seriously, how is it that they all use the same tone? Is that capacity just part of the factory-equipped model of child?  Truth be told, it kind of is…the capacity, that is. Children... Read more...

Ten years ago this month I founded Parenting Pathways®. (This is my business through which I offer parents of children, toddlers through teens, a variety of services including private consultations, monthly parenting groups, and individual topical seminars.)  Who knew I would reinvent myself? Who knew how much... Read more...

In response to my recent appearance on the Today Show  –  http://www.clicker.com/tv/today-show/Brat-proof-your-child-866570.html in case you missed it! —  a  woman wrote to tell me I was off base. She said that children are naturally brats and are naturally selfish. While I would not be quick to countradict this... Read more...